Monday, April 19, 2010

"Many women who do not dress modestly ... lead young men astray, corrupt their chastity and spread adultery in society, which (consequently) increases earthquakes," Hojatoleslam Kazem Sedighi was quoted as saying by Iranian media.

Women in the Islamic Republic are required by law to cover from head to toe, but many, especially the young, ignore some of the more strict codes and wear tight coats and scarves pulled back that show much of the hair.

Those strumpets!

Update: A student at Purdue tested this by having a bunch of women "dress immodestly," then looking for anomalies in seismic activity. "Boobquake" became an Internet sensation, and over 100,000 women participated. Men can breathe a sigh of relief; no evidence of a correlation was found

Sunday, April 4, 2010

An essential part of preparing for an emergency is planning for your pet(s). With Hurricane Katrina, thousands of people in New Orleans were forced to leave their pets behind. They were not allowed to bring them to shelters or on evacuation buses. Many pets died, and with others it was often hard for owners to recover them.

Emergency management authorities are required to have a plan for handling pets in an emergency. Some have more of a plan than others. Fortunately, in the DC area, there's a partnership with the Humane Society to set up emergency shelters for animals in a disaster. (Note: Red Cross shelters do not allow animals, except service animals like seeing-eye dogs.)

It's best to not rely on that alone, however. Other options for hosting your pet may include friends, family, kennels, veterinarians offices, and hotels that allow pets. The Humane Society has information on how to prepare, as well as directories of pet-friendly hotels.